The new initiative from Benjamin Millepied and Jennifer Smith took shape over dinner and performances at Bellosguardo
The manicured grounds of Bellosguardo overlooking the Pacific Ocean were the sun-soaked setting for a gala launch of The Santa Barbara Fund for New Choreography founded by Benjamin Millepied and C Magazine’s Jennifer Smith on Thursday, July 16. The celebratory dinner, cohosted by Belle Hahn, Cindy Robinson Mullen, Lily Hahn Shining, and Smith drew members of L.A. Dance Project, the artist collective cofounded by Millepied, and the region’s arts supporters to the historic estate.
A program of open-air performances launched the initiative dedicated to commissioning new works, an artistic exchange with the coastal city and a forthcoming dance festival in Santa Barbara. Following cocktails on the estate’s veranda, excerpts from the Millepied-choreographed triptych Reflections were performed on a stage constructed on the grand lawn. Portions of Resonance, a work created by a handful of choreographers as part of the Getty-organized PST ART collaboration, and Hymn to Freedom also created by Millepied to the Oscar Peterson civil rights anthem, rounded out the program. When Peter Forbes McDowell, LADP’s director of development took the stage, he said the surroundings brought to mind a particular adjective: “The main word that I can think of is expansive. We have an expansive ocean, we have an expansive lawn, and we have an expansive dream for dance and for the arts.”
“I really did stop dancing 17 years ago, though, so I’m more improvising a dance for you, for this event, for this incredible setting.”
BENJAMIN MILLEPIED
Millepied called Hymn to Freedom “a stunning piece of piano and jazz and very much reflective of how this place in California makes me feel.” But before dancers Robert Hoffer, Shu Kinouchi, Audrey Sides, and Hope Spears began the piece, Millepied himself was inspired to perform. “We were rehearsing this afternoon and I guess I’ve danced over the years only for special occasions but I couldn’t help performing tonight. I really did stop dancing 17 years ago, though, so I’m more improvising a dance for you, for this event, for this incredible setting,” he said. To the strains of three of Bach’s Cello Suites played by SUUVI, he danced a solo. And the surprises kept coming. Over a dinner prepared by Miles Robbins, Millepied announced that he would soon premiere a new ballet in Paris titled Summerland, inspired by his time living in Toro Canyon.
“We dreamed of one day having a festival and tonight the concept was seeded with this gala.”
JENNIFER SMITH
Smith said she and Millepied bonded over their shared love of Santa Barbara, first discovered during a conversation at a photoshoot, and began imagining how to bring more dance to the region. “We dreamed of one day having a festival and tonight the concept was seeded with this gala celebrating the new fund to create two brand new dance pieces that will premiere next summer in Santa Barbara at a newly created week-long international dance festival founded by Benjamin and me!”
July 28, 2026
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